In theUnited States,redistricting is the process of drawingelectoral district boundaries.[1] For theUnited States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after eachten-year census.[2]
TheU.S. Constitution in Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 provides for apportionment of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives based on the population of each state. TheReapportionment Act of 1929 required that the number of seats in the chamber be kept at a constant 435, and a 1941 act made the reapportionment among the states by population automatic after every decennial census.[3] Reapportionment occurs at the federal level followed by redistricting at the state level. According toColegrove v. Green, 328 U.S. 549 (1946),Article I, Section 4 left to the legislature of each state the authority to establish congressional districts.[4] Such decisions are subject to judicial review.[2][5] In most states redistricting is subject to political maneuvering, but some states have createdindependent commissions.[6]
The 1967Uniform Congressional District Act requires that representatives be elected fromsingle-member districts. When astate has a single representative, that district will be state-wide.[7]
Gerrymandering in the redistricting process has been a problem since the early days of the republic.[8][9][10]
Six states have a single representative in theUnited States House of Representatives, because of their low populations.[11] These areAlaska,Delaware,North Dakota,South Dakota,Vermont, andWyoming. These states do not need redistricting for the House and elect members on a state-wideat-large basis.[12]
In 25 states, thestate legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to approval by the stategovernor.[6] To reduce the role that legislative politics might play, thirteen states (Alaska,[a]Arizona,California,Colorado,Hawaii,Idaho,Michigan,Missouri,Montana,New Jersey,Ohio,Pennsylvania, andWashington) determine congressional redistricting by an independent or bipartisanredistricting commission.[13] Five states:Maine,New York,Rhode Island,Vermont,[b] andVirginia give independent bodies authority to propose redistricting plans, but preserve the role of legislatures to approve them.Arkansas has a commission composed of its governor, attorney general, and secretary of state.
By law, the forty-four states with more than one representative must redistrict after each decennial census to account for population shifts within the state and, when necessary, to add or remove congressional districts.[14][12] Federal law, including theConstitution, does not prevent states from redistricting at any time between censuses, up to and including redistricting prior to each congressional election, provided such redistricting conforms to various federal laws.[15]
"Mid-decade" redistricting proposals, such as what occurred in2003 in Texas, have typically been highly controversial. Because of this, many states prohibit mid-decade redistricting. This is more prevalent for state legislative redistricting than for congressional redistricting. Some also link it to a specific year or to the decennial census. It is unclear to what extent mid-decade redistricting would be legal in those states.[16]
Apart from mid-decade redistricting initiated by state legislatures, as happened inTexas, both federal and state courts can also order the redistricting of certain maps between-censuses, because said maps were ruled unconstitutional or against federal law, for example. Examples of this are the redistricting that occurred between the 2016 and 2018 elections inPennsylvania, or the redistricting that occurred inNorth Carolina.[17]
State constitutions and laws mandate which body has responsibility over drawing the state legislature boundaries.[18] Thosemunicipal governments that are elected on a district basis, as opposed to anat-large basis, also redistrict.[19]
TheReapportionment Act of 1929 did not state any size and population requirements for congressional districts, last stated in theApportionment Act of 1911, since the 1911 Act was still in force. However, the Supreme Court ruled that the 1911 Act was no longer in force even though Congress never repealed it. The previous apportionment acts required districts be contiguous, compact, and equally populated.[20][21][22]
Each state can set its own standards for congressional and legislative districts.[23] In addition to equalizing the population of districts and complying with federal requirements, criteria may include attempting to create compact, contiguous districts, trying to keep political units and communities within a single district, and avoiding the drawing of boundaries for purposes of partisan advantage or incumbent protection.[24]
Redistricting may follow other criteria depending on state and local laws:[25]
Gerrymandering, the practice of drawing district boundaries to achieve political advantage for legislators, involves the manipulation of district boundaries to leave out, or include, specific populations in a particular district to ensure a legislator's reelection or to advantage their party.
In states where the legislature, or another body where a partisan majority is possible, is in charge of redistricting, the possibility of gerrymandering (the deliberate manipulation of political boundaries for electoral advantage, usually ofincumbents or a specificpolitical party) often makes the process very politically contentious, especially when the majorities of the two houses of the legislature, or the legislature and the governor, are from different parties.
Partisan domination of state legislatures and improved technology to design contiguous districts that pack opponents into as few districts as possible have led to district maps which are skewed towards one party. Consequently, many states includingFlorida,Georgia,Maryland,Michigan,North Carolina,Ohio,Pennsylvania,Texas andWisconsin have succeeded in reducing or effectively eliminating competition for most House seats in those states.[28][29] Some states, includingNew Jersey andNew York, protect incumbents of both parties, reducing the number of competitive districts.[30]
The state and federal court systems are often involved in resolving disputes over congressional and legislative redistricting when gridlock prevents redistricting in a timely manner. Those disadvantaged by a proposed redistricting plan may challenge it in state and federal courts.Justice Department approval, which is known as pre-clearance, was formerly required under Section 5 of theVoting Rights Act of 1965 in certain states that had a history of racial barriers to voting. The Supreme Court's ruling on the Pennsylvania redistricting effectively allows elected officials to select their constituents, by eliminating most of the grounds for constituents to challenge district lines.[31]
In addition to the establishments ofredistricting commissions in multiple states, proposals have been fielded to draftinterstate compacts between states on congressional redistricting. These have been proposed in the legislatures ofMaryland andIllinois since the 2010s in order to reduce redistricting-related litigation, prevent partisan "arms races" over reapportionment and partisan gerrymandering, and reduce perceptions of nonpartisan redistricting as unilateral disarmament.[32] To date, no such compacts have been approved by legislature or referendum.[citation needed]
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